Zoltan wins fourth straight Las Vegas Marathon

Tim Graham

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

The winner of next year's Las Vegas International Marathon could be Elmer Fudd.

In an attempt to finally break Frank Plasso's long-standing record, LVIM director Al Boka is thinking about employing a rascally rabbit for next year's runners to chase after.

Shotguns optional.

"If we can afford it," Boka said, "we'll get a rabbit.

"It's a guy who has no interest in winning the race, but the runners don't know that. He just goes out real fast to generate a pace and then drops out after 15 miles or so."

Zoltan Holba won his fourth straight LVIM Sunday morning, but once again was unable to hunt down Plasso's record of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 37 seconds.

Holba recorded his worst LVIM time, running the 26.2-mile course from Jean to Sunset Park in 2:16:42. Elena Vinistkia finished first among the women and won her fifth straight race in 2:32:43.

Each earned $5,000 in prize money for winning. Holba received an additional $200 for running under 2:20:00. Vinitskaia qualified for three incentive bonuses and drew an extra $1,600.

Holba, a 30-year-old Hungarian, wasn't hassled for much of the race. He pulled away from second-place finisher Markus Gerber around the 20-mile marker.

"If somebody would have pushed me more to my limit, I would have performed better," Holba said through an interpreter.

Holba estimated he could have run close to 2:13 if someone had challenged him.

Both Holba and Gerber, who broke away from the pack at the 13-mile marker, claimed they were hindered by a strong head wind with around eight miles to run.

"I ran with Zoltan until the point of the half-marathon and then led at around the 30-kilometer mark," Gerber, of Switzerland, said through an interpreter. "Then the pace got too fast and I had to pull back.

Overall, it was a good day for the Gerber clan. His brother, Hanspeter, won the masters (40-and-older) marathon in 2:24:15. But Markus Gerber couldn't help but think how nice it would have been had they both won.

"If I had to do it again," Markus Gerber said, "I would have changed the lead more often. Perhaps that would have helped. That way, I wouldn't have had the head wind against me alone. I could have shared it with Zoltan."

Holba claimed he wasn't thinking about breaking the record, but admitted he was under pressure before the starter's pistol fired at 7:30 a.m.

"Before the race was the hardest for me," he said. "There was a lot of pressure on me to win my fourth (consecutive LVIM). Everyone expected a lot of me. They expected too much."

A lot was also expected of Vinitskaia. The 25-year-old Belarus native was touted as a favorite to beat the women's record of 2:32:22, set by Marzena Helbik two years ago.

But Vinitskaia said she wasn't concerned about the mark. She insisted it was more the obsession of her trainer, Dr. Nikolai Snessarev.

"It was my coach's plan, but not mine," she said through Snessarev. "It's important for me, but the altitude is very difficult. But I was still two seconds from my personal best."

Last year's LVIM women's champ, Joanna Gront, finished a distant second at 2:35:07. Agnes Jakab led for the first 15 miles but faded to third at 2:38:34.

Vinitskaia's victory gave her five straight. She won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Marathon in December, set the record at a 30-kilometer race in Clarksburg, Calif., in December, took the California International Marathon in Sacramento two weeks later and won the San Diego Marathon in January.

The top local marathoners were Martin Owens (2:27:37) of North Las Vegas and Amy Blackwell (2:45:32) of Las Vegas. As the top local male and female runners, they will be flown to Japan for the Lake Kawaguchi Marathon, a race affiliated with the LVIM. Owens and Blackwell are boyfriend and girlfriend.

In the half-marathon, John Sence of Cincinnati took the men's in 1:02:56. Kelly Cordell of Gilbert, Ariz., won the women's in 1:12:04.

New Zealander John Campbell, who turned 50 on Saturday, breezed to the masters victory in 1:06:49. Campbell shattered his age group's event record by nearly four minutes, but fell short of the masters event and world mark of 1:03:33 set last year by Craig Young.

In the half-marathon racewalk, Francisco Torres of San Diego won the men's in 1:27:28. Cheryl Rellinger of Davisburg, Mich., claimed the women's in 1:50:16.

The wheelchair marathon went to Eric Neitzel of San Diego in 1:26:33, just two seconds ahead of Rich Wagner of Columbus, Ohio. There were no female entrants.

The 5-kilometer race, run on Saturday, went to Patrick Materna of La Follette, Tenn., in 15:22. Las Vegan Hugo Figueroa finished one second behind.